Water supply resumes in Bangalore

Bangaloreans can heave a sigh of relief as of now. With water level at the Shiva Balancing Reservoir (SBR) stabilising following the release of water from Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam and Hemavathi river, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has resumed pumping from all its reservoirs from Tuesday.

Till Monday, the BWSSB had stopped 15 of the 60 pumps at Thorekadanahalli (TK Halli), Harohalli and Tataguni from where water is pumped to the city. As against the city’s requirement of 1,150 million litres of water per day (mld), the board was drawing only 835 mld till Monday.

Following the improvement in the water level, the board is now pumping 900 mld to the city from Tuesday. Although the city’s requirement still falls short of 250 mld, officials said the situation could be managed.

“The level at SBR improved from minus 40 inches to minus 26 on Wednesday. We have resumed pumping from all the 60 motors and the situation is likely to become normal in another day. If the levels remain the same or improve even a little, we can manage for another 25 days by when we hope monsoon will set in,” said BWSSB Engineer-in-Chief T. Venkataraju.

He reiterated the board’s appeal to people to use water judiciously. “Although pumping was stopped most areas that are located at the lower level of any area were still getting water,” he added.